CITY OF NEWBURGH — A drunken driver crashed into a parked car early Saturday morning, killing a woman he identified as his wife, police said.

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By DOYLE MURPHY

recordonline.com

By DOYLE MURPHY

Posted Nov. 20, 2012 at 2:00 AM

By DOYLE MURPHY
Posted Nov. 20, 2012 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

CITY OF NEWBURGH — A drunken driver crashed into a parked car early Saturday morning, killing a woman he identified as his wife, police said.

Luis Herrera, 46, of Newburgh was not supposed to be driving at all, police said. The state suspended his license in January 2010 after Herrera was convicted of driving while impaired by drugs, and the 1997 BMW 540 he's accused of crashing didn't have a valid registration because the insurance had lapsed, according to court documents.

Police Chief Michael Ferrara said the BMW was headed north on South Robinson Avenue, just beyond the New Windsor line. It crossed the southbound lane about 3:15 a.m., hit the parked car and rolled, Ferrara said. An ambulance from Mobile Life Support Services arrived, and police and firefighters found medical personnel already working on Herrera and 43-year-old Carolyn Rivera, who was a passenger in the car, outside the vehicle. Herrera and Rivera both went to the Newburgh campus of St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital. Herrera was released a few hours later into police custody. Rivera was pronounced dead at the hospital, but before cops had finished investigating the scene.

Ferrara would later see the BMW and note the "extensive damage" on the passenger side.

"It looked like it was pretty well crushed," he said.

Newburgh police Officer Michael Pitt arrested Herrera on charges of felony DWI, aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and operation of a motor vehicle with a suspended registration. Herrera also was cited for numerous traffic violations.

Ferrara said police continue to investigate Saturday's crash with the help of the Orange County District Attorney's Office. Herrera was arraigned in city court Monday and sent to Orange County Jail without bail.